It is known from DE 100 64 577 A1 to solder the terminal pins of a TO package which contains an optoelectronic component directly to a printed circuit board. Since both the printed circuit board and the TO package are fixed in a common housing (usually a transceiver housing), inadmissibly high mechanical stresses can occur, however, at the soldering points due to mechanical tolerances and thermal expansion.
Furthermore, it is known to connect the terminal pins of a TO package with a flexible conductor (e.g., a flexible flat cable). Flexible conductors are arrangements known in the prior art in which interconnects have been applied to one, both or several sides of a flexible, insulating substrate. The connection between the terminal pins of a TO package and a flexible conductor takes place by means of via holes in the flexible conductor, through which the terminal pins are inserted. Flexible conductors have the advantage that they have favorable RF properties at high frequencies in the GHz range. In addition, they allow compensation for tolerances with regard to the arrangement of an optoelectronic component with respect to a printed circuit board.
An arrangement with a flexible conductor known in the prior art for the electrical connection of an optoelectronic component to a printed circuit board is represented in FIG. 9. The optoelectronic component formed as an electro-optical converter 100 has a TO package 101, in which optoelectronic components such as an optical transmitting module and/or an optical receiving module which emit or receive light modulated in a way corresponding to data to be transmitted are arranged in a known way. The TO package 101 is adjoined by a plug unit 300 for an optical plug, in the exemplary embodiment represented for a SC plug (SC=subscriber connector).
An electrical connection to a printed circuit board (not shown), which is located for example in an optoelectronic transceiver and contains additional electronic components such as capacitors, resistors and integrated circuits such as driver modules and preamplifier modules, takes place by means of a flexible conductor 200.
Terminal pins 103 protrude perpendicularly from a base plate 102 of the TO package 101. The flexible conductor 200 runs parallel to the base plate 102 of the TO package 101 at its end 201 facing the TO package 101 and, in this region 201, contacts the terminal pins 103. The end 202 to be brought into electrical contact with a printed circuit board, on the other hand, runs perpendicularly in relation to the base plate 102. It is accordingly required to bend the flexible conductor 200 between these two ends 201, 202, producing a bent region 203. On account of a minimum bending radius of the flexible conductor 200, the size of which depends on the type of flexible conductor, a certain installation space is required for the bent region 203, which leads to an undesired additional space requirement. It is desirable to arrange the optoelectronic components in a way that saves as much space as possible.